White Houses
by ScarlaBlack
Summary: Kairi reluctantly moves to Destiny Islands. But there, she finds a little romance. SoKairi, based on the song White Houses without the annoying lyrics placed in.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My very first SoKairi! I'm a little nervous about this one, since I don' t like Kairi at all, so I hope I didn't make her all OOC and stuff.

Dedication: To Passionx3, whose youtube video meant so much to me that I was driven to write a fanfiction.

Disclaimer: ...I own the game console. Not the rights.

--

When my parents first announced the news, I glared, crossing my arms. "No."

Mom looked at me, concerned. "Kairi, sweetie pie, darling," she began. When she starts off by calling me all the pet names in the book, it's bad. "I _know_ you don't want to move, but honey, Daddy's got a new job in Destiny Islands, and well, there's nothing left here, baby." She chewed on her cheek a little, looking like she was thinking of a less lame excuse, but couldn't find any.

"My _childhood_ is left here!"

"Kai-"

"We've lived here for all my life, and you think I'm going to be fine with this? Just because Dad got a job there doesn't mean that I'm just going let go of Radiant Garden!" My hands were now at my sides, fists trembling. Heat rushed up to my head, and I felt little pricks of tears forming. Oh, great. Why do my tear ducts only decide to work when I'm angry? "Mom, I _love _it here."

She winced, and nervously tugged at her fading sandy blonde hair. We just sort of stood there, me silently crying and choking on my tears, and Mom's mouth gaping open on occasion, trying to figure out a comforting, mom-like thing to say.

I'm not exactly sure how long we stood there, or how many times the pizza-man knocked on our door before Daddy opened it, but I do know that I was exhausted. I guess crying really takes a lot out of you, huh? Anyway, dinner was unusually silent. Daddy plowed through his pizza like usual, but Mom and I picked at ours.

Moodily prodding at the piece of sausage, Mom finally spoke. "You can't act-"

"Excuse me."

"Kairi! Young lady, you get back he-" I didn't hear the last bits, walking as fast as my legs would take me. I swung open the front door, slamming it closed as hard as I could, my hand slightly stinging at the impact. Hopefully _that'd_ convey my feelings about this to their thick heads.

I hopped down the stairs to our porch. What to do next? I couldn't exactly waltz straight back in without fear of a _very_ long lecture anytime soon, and plain running away was out of the question for me. My feet took me down our driveway, and on the sidewalk. I wandered around the neighborhood, hoping that would clear my mind.

Alas, when you need your brain to shut down, it likes to work overtime.

_There's nothing left here._

My tongue ran across my front teeth. Of course things were left here! There was Cloud and Leon, who, I'll admit, didn't really talk or interact with anyone else much, but still. They were everyday life here. There was Rikku, Paine, and Yuna, too. They were always fun, and they did just about any odd job you needed done, presuming you had enough money for the service. Tifa was cool, if not a bit ruckus, Yuffie was the life of the entire neighborhood with her "ninja skills," and Aerith was...nice. I didn't know life without any of them, and it hurt to know I'd have to leave.

But on the other hand, I never was close to Cloud or Leon. Rikku, Paine, and Yuna sort of got on my nerves with their constant "meetings" right in front of you when you knew they would agree to your offer in the end. Tifa was a little violent for my tastes, Yuffie was the neighborhood drunk (even when she was completely sober), and Aerith really needed to grow a backbone, in my opinion. Their faults seemed to over weigh their strengths for me.

_There's nothing left here._

Two teardrops plopped on the concrete sidewalk. I guess it was time to move on.

But that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt.

--

First chapter done!

Okay, guys, I have a confession to make: I have a small phobia when it comes to being the first to review. But! I do it anyway; it gives me an enormous sense of well-being (anyone who got where I took that from, you get a cookie).

So, please review!


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Second installment of White Houses. Y'know, when I hate a character, but write in their POV (point of view) or just about them, I actually go out of my way to research the character. So, I tried to find some fanatics on google that write Kairi's biography or something. And you know what? I found **NOTHING. NADA.** The closest I could get to her personality was "she is happy-go-lucky." ...Okaaaaayy...So if she had some angst in her life she would be all "Hee hee, ladidada..."? Riiight.

Dedications: To Passionx3, who made the youtube video that drove me to write this.

Attempt to brainwash: Probably won't work, since you guys are probably all into the whole SoKairi thing, but I can try, no? Did you know that SoRiku has more fanfiction than SoKairi? By about 40 pages worth, baby. That many people can't be wrong. And I searched on google, too. SoKairi: 336,000 results. SoRiku: 415,000 results. Winner: SoRiku.

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would probably make SoKairi fics illegal. Which is odd, since I'm writing one XD.

--

My heart squeezed as the door shut behind me. This was it. The last time I would ever see my house; maybe the last time I would ever see Radiant Garden again. All of my childhood memories, gone. Perhaps I would never see any of these people again.

But despite all of this, my heart sped with excitement as I slid into the car. I prayed that the sorrows would end, and I would step forward to realize my wish. And who knows: Starting a journey might not be so hard, or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, after all, and they share the same sky - one sky, one destiny.

Heh. That sounded poetic. Maybe I ought to write that down for future reference.

**SrRsSrRs...**

All I can say is that five hour car rides are possibly the worst things that a fourteen-year-old girl can experience. I now realize how lucky I am to be an only child; it's bad enough with parents that don't seem to have a shred of dignity ("I have to go pee! Let's stop at this gas station, do you need to pee, Kai-kai?"), but to have brothers and sisters along for the ride... I shudder at the thought.

Anyway, we arrived at our destination without too much of a hassle: 3890 Paopu Drive. I stepped out of the car, trying desparately to find a fault in the house we had.

I couldn't. The grass was beautifully displayed, probably sod, and was the ideal green people believe grass ought to be. There was a little flower patch, all the right flowers in all the right places. And the house was amazingly gorgeous. I did have a small problem with our house. In fact, it was the same for every house my eyes could see.

Every single house was a spotless white. It was as if someone went to every house in the neighborhood and bleached it. The glare of the sun reflected off of the white houses, giving them a holy look about them. I hated it immediately.

"Kairi, can you help unpack, sweetie?" Unpacking. I had nearly forgotten. Inwardly groaning, I made my way toward the moving truck. My hopes of less boxes than I originally thought were whisked in the winds when I saw box after box, stacked upon each other. Mom looked at me and laughed. "Don't worry; Daddy's gonna haul most of these in. You just get your things and set your room up, 'mkay? Oh, and I'll get the mattress for you, so don't worry about a thing. It'll be great, Kai-kai." I had the feeling that if she squealed any more, she'd be mistaken for some piglet.

Great. Sure. "Yeah. It will, huh?" I picked up my few boxes (thank God I didn't have too much stuff; just some clothes, books, and little doodads I picked up at Twilight occasionally) and pushed the slightly ajar door fully open with my hip. It was just as fairytale perfect inside as it was outside. I had an urge to make it unperfect, unique. The whole "Made in China" feel was starting to get on my nerves.

I walked upstairs. Daddy had been in this house before, and he had drawn us a whole diagram of the innards. Granted, it was more lines than pictures, but Mom and I had long since learned to decipher his pictures. Walking into the room that I supposed was my own, I dropped the boxes to my side. Here starts the hard labor.

I wiped the sweat from my brow. Everything was in it's place, now, except for the gaping hole where I wanted my bed to be. Smiling, I looked around. After things were set, the room looked better. Less white. Less perfect.

Mom and Daddy had put most of the boxes in the rooms that the insides were to go, but they had yet to unpack most of them. Daddy spotted me on my way down. "How's my little angel? Got everything set up? Yeah? Great. We'll finish it up here; why don't you go outside, get yourself acquainted with the new area?" He nudged me, grinning insanely. Well. That was Daddy for you.

"All right, I guess. I'll be back in a few hours. Bye." Truth was, 'acquainting myself with the new area' was the last thing I really wanted, but hey, it was better than unloading packages all day.

Our house was sort of near the neighborhood exit, and I decided that they wouldn't mind too much, as long as I didn't go get myself killed/kidnapped/raped or anything else. The streets, unlike those of Radiant Garden, were practically empty. I wondered how many people there were in Destiny Islands as I walked down the sidewalk, determined to step on every crack I found.

After a little bit, a noise broke through my concentration, and I stepped on a crackless spot. Less worried about that, now, I ran over to where I had heard the noise, ready to investigate. Then I saw it.

The beach.

Amazing. We now lived a mere fifteen minutes from a public beach. Did Daddy know anything about this?

Either way, I made a mental note to go shopping for a bathing suit in the future.

I skipped over to the beach. I wasn't going to hop into the water, of course, but walking in the sand never did anyone harm. Well. Actually...

"I got it, I got it!"

"Sora, watch out for-"

_Huh?_

_**CRASH.**_ The person (at least, I was assuming it was a person) and I tumbled through the sand. I'm not sure who landed on top, since we were so tangled up. I think my legs were under their waist, but my head was somewhere near their legs. I heard "-that girl..." in the background.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, really! I was trying to get - and I didn' t see you at all, and - are you hurt? Of course you're hurt, I just tackled you! Oh, I really am sorry. Can I help you at all?"

"I think she'd be better off if you got off of her." A chuckle. I couldn't twist my head to see the owner of the voice.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, sorry, sorry. Here, let me help you up." With a grunt, the weight was lifted from my legs, and a tanned hand extended to my pale one. Taking it, I looked at him as he pulled me up.

Whenever I ask what people first saw in Sora, they'd always ramble on about his puffy, bright red jumper, or his big, clown-like, yellow shoes, or his spikey chocolate hair that defied gravity, all of which I'm sure only he could pull off. But the first thing _I_ noticed was his eyes. They were a bright cerulean blue, and they were large, seeming to drag you into their depths. True, I had blue eyes too, but mine were more of an indigo color, nowhere near as beautiful as his.

...God, now I sound as romantic as Selphie.

"My name's Sora, by the way. You look new around here. I mean, not many people live around here, and I haven't ever seen you, and believe me, I know everyone. So, what's you name?"

Earth to Kairi, someone's asking you a question. "Ah, I'm, uh, Kairi! Uh, yeah, I just moved here, and um, yeah. Nice to meet you?"

That same chuckle behind me. "Looks like someone's a little tongue-tied. Then again, Sora _did_ just barrel into you. Riku's the name. Pleasure to meet you, and all that." I turned to see another boy, who was smirking at something (probably my hair; I tried to shake all the sand out of it).

He was, to throw away all the dignity I have left, _hot._ He was slightly muscular - not an ugly body builder's type, but that sort of wiry frame with smaller, more natural (and hotter) muscles, unlike Sora, who was more of a skinny boy. His shoulder-length silver hair glinted in the sunlight, along with his greenish-blue eyes.

I'm so glad I didn't start drooling on the spot. "Uh. H-hi." _I'm such a moron..._

His smirk seemed to get larger, like that was the response he was expecting. "Hi." He looked around, acting like he was thinking about something, but something in his eyes told me he already had his mind made up. "Hey, Sora, Kairi's probably really lost here. Why don't we show her around?" He looked at me, and I swear he winked. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Uhh..." _Duhrrr... _Brain malfunction.

"Yeah! C'mon, we'll show you _all_ around!" To emphasis his point, he spread his arms wide, as if trying to hug the entire air. "What d'ya say, Kairi?"

Enthusiastic, much? Lucky for me, I snapped out of it. "Um, sure." Not like I had anything else to do.

"Alright, great!" Then his stomach growled. Blushing, Sora scratched the back of his neck. "First, anyone wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm sorta starved."

Riku rolled his eyes and punched his arm playfully. "I swear, you've got a bottomless pit for a stomach. Fine, let's go." He looked over his shoulder. "You coming?"

"Oh. Yeah!" I ran up to them.

--

**Note:** The "poetic" stuff that was spewed in the second paragraph is a well-known quote from Kingdom Hearts II, in the message-in-a-bottle that Kairi sent. So basically, I don't pretend to have thought up something like that.

Sorry for the abrupt end. I can't think of what else to write in that little space, sooo...have to wait until the next chapter, I guess.

And no, there will be no "love triangle" going on. Riku just likes to flirt with everything that moves. Besides, he's got his eyes on someone else -coughcough-.

And Sora gets on my nerves...Such an idiot...Then again, Kairi's an idiot in the video game (I'm trying to give her some intelligence...), so I guess they really are meant for each other...can you say idiots in love?

Anyway. Reviews make certain authoresses write faster!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This fanfic really _is_ gonna kill me... Jesus, I haven't written this much in a matter of a few days, since, like, ever. (aka when my plot bunnies for my "books" were still alive. If you find one, please return it. Please?) Anyways, yeah.

Oh, I lied in the last A/N. There is a love triangle thing. Hmm. And there will be one-sided Riku/Kairi (dunno the pairing name). Yeah. The plot thickens, ladies and gents.

And I always wondered why all my reviewers were up at 4 in the morning xD. You guys come from different countries!

Dedications: Passionx3. For the same reasons as the last chapter.

Brainwashing: I dunno if anyone noticed, but when Kairi went and hugged him, Sora looked _pissed_. Just look in slow-mo. I'm serious. And then, when Riku and Sora (...a little bit of Kairi, too, I guess) have their moment, uh, Sora, y'know, **gets on his knees and starts bawling his eyes out.** Oh yeah. Sora _so_ doesn't love Riku, mm-hm. _Suuuure._

Disclaimer: I own! is carried away by lawyers Um...no I don't. lawyers leave But, I do own my OCs (original character) Scarlet and Thomas!

--

Apparently, McDonald's _is_ everywhere. Even in a little place in the middle of nowhere like here.

The cashier was a blond-haired kid, whose hair was a little tamer than Sora's, but it still stuck up in places. He had the same blue eyes as Sora, too. His mouth turned into a thin line when he saw us (or, at least, Sora and Riku). "You _do_ know I'm working, right?"

Sora grinned. "I know. But, c'mon, nearly no one goes here, anyway." True: As I looked around, there wasn't anyone here except for a big man all alone in a corner. "So why can't I talk to you once and a while?"

Blondie sighed. "I already told you. Because-"

"Roxas! Stop the chit-chat and start working, for once!" Behind him, a girl with red hair popped her head out of a door leading to somewhere. Yikes. Did she have anger management problems, or what?

The apparent Roxas glared back. "Fine!" The girl disappeared with a huff.

He shook his head. "Sorry, my manageress is sort of a bi-"

"**I CAN HEAR YOU!**"

He glared at the door again, then at Sora. "Look. Either order something, or leave."

I think Sora _tried_ to glare, but it was more of an angry pout than anything. "I _was_, I was. I thought you might've wanted to talk first, but fine." He looked up at the menu. "I want..."

"He wants a double Fish-Filet-O, with large fries and a sea-salt ice cream." I looked at Riku. What was that about? Sora looked like he was thinking the same thing.

"Riku!" he whined. "I was gonna order! Why do you always do that?"

He smirked. "Because," he drawled, ruffling Sora's hair, much to his dismay, "if I don't, you'll order every single thing on the menu. And I can't afford that." Riku turned to Roxas (ignoring Sora's angry "No, I wouldn't!"), now leaning on his elbows, like he was negotiating or something. "What would you order here?"

Roxas leaned in. "_I_ wouldn't order anything here; have you seen how they make the food? But I'd probably get our new salads. They actually don't mutilate it that much, and it's cheaper than most of our stuff because we use coconut oil for the dressing instead of that crap we import."

"Mmm. Really. I'll get that, then. And a Paopu smoothie, on the side." He looked at me. "Well? You want anything?"

I flushed (_heaskedmewhatIwantedohmygosh)_. "Oh, I'm...not hungry. Uh, yeah. Not hungry."

Roxas punched in some buttons. "That'll be 125 munny, please."

Sora dug in his...whoa. Just how many pockets did he have? He pulled out a few munny, then pouted. "Aww...I only have 47...must've already used the rest up..."

Sighing, Riku made up the difference, muttering "I knew it..." Roxas looked to the back, where rather apathetic looking employees flipped the filets and filled the fries. I looked at Sora, who was sort of bobbing up and down, waiting for his food. Riku stared at the drive-thru window with a blank look in his eye, then caught me staring. Oops. My head automatically fell, now staring at my feet.

A few minutes later (though it seemed like forever), the food was served on a greasy tray with a sheet of paper advertising more McDonald stuff. "There you go," Roxas said, boredom lacing his voice. He looked at his watch - it was one of those cheap, fabric ones that were sort of hard to read unless you were in the light - then turned. "Scarlet?"

"Hnn."

"My shift's over. I'm leaving."

A thumb's up protruded from the other side of the door. "Got it. Thomas, you heard him! Get to it!" The large man scuttled up to the counter, Roxas uncomfortably squeezing through.

We settled at a booth, Sora next to me and Riku across from me. I had a feeling that the fates liked watching me suffer. Luckily for me, Riku didn't pay any attention to that. "So, stereotypical nightmare employer?"

Roxas looked at him. "Nightmare? She's psychopathic! She threatened Ray - the guy on burgers - that if he didn't cook them to her expectations, she'd whack him with the spatula. And she went through with it!" He suddered, apparently remembering the moment. "Remind me why I'm working here."

"Because we're broke, you don't trust me near anything sharp, electrically charged, flammable, or with a tendency to bite, Riku's lazy, and you're smitten for Namine, so you wanna buy her the best things you can," Sora piped through a mouthful of fish. I slightly grimaced. Didn't he know that talking with your mouth full was gross?

Roxas, used to Sora's lack of manners, blushed. "I...I-I am not _smitten_ for her! She's nice, and stuff, and..."

Wow. I was suprised he didn't faint from all the blood rushing to his head.

"And you want to kiss her, and hug her, and love her. Yeah, yeah, lover boy." Riku grinned while Roxas sputtered incoherently. "She's your girlfriend, and you haven't kissed her once. C'mon, I thought you had more guts than that."

Roxas managed to gain the art of speech back. "I really like her. I, uh, respect her, and stuff. Look, I just don't want to move too fast. She looks so fragile, and I'm not gonna be the one to break her. You got that?" He glared, expecting an answer. I, meanwhile, was blushing furiously. Was this a usual topic in their conversations?

Riku laughed it off. "I was just kidding, y'know. I'm definitely not going to get involved in your little love problems."

Roxas huffed. "Yeah, well..."

"The sea-salt ice cream is really good." Sora, apparently, was paying a little too much attention to his food to care.

"So, anyway, who're you?" Roxas stared at me. Did all of these boys have ridiculously pretty eyes?

"I'm Kairi. You're...Roxas, right?" Roxas. Roxas. Boy, that was fun to say. Rooooxaaaassss...

Roxas nodded. "Nice to meet you." He held out his hand, and I shook it, like a handshake confirmed our acquaintance. And that was that.

**SrRsSrRs...**

The last few hours were spent walking around the area. All three boys showed me around, which was nice. Too bad there were only a few places to show. There was a really ritzy restaurant on the main island ("You either eat there, at McDonald's, or at your house. There aren't really any other choices without worrying about food poisoning."), a few clothes shops spotted here or there ("Sleeping Beauty Designs is for custom-made stuff, but there's also a Belle's for trendy clothes, and a Maleficent Fabrics for a more alternative look."), and a grocery store ("Huey, Dewey and Louie have everything, trust me."). Those were basically the only stores in the entire island.

Finally, Sora (and I was suprised it was Sora who saw the dilemma) spoke. "So, you live in that little neighborhood over there?" He nodded to my new neighborhood: Destiny Station.

"Yeah."

"Huh." He put his hands behind his head. "Aren't all the houses white there?"

"Oh. Yeah..."

He looked at me. "You gonna have any trouble finding your house?"

"..." _Yes... _Of course I would. I'd just moved in, all the houses were glaring white, and there wasn't really any way to figure out which house from which. Wait, I knew my address, didn't I? Let's see, Paopu Drive, 3... um, 3... 3 something. Great. Now I'd forgotten my address. Next time I went out, I'd be sure to write it down on the inside of my hand. In Sharpie.

Sora laughed, which annoyed me a bit, but I decided to let it go. "Hey, I'll walk you to your house. You can just look for your parents' car or something. Riku, Roxas, you guys don't have to come."

Riku did his signature smirk (I think he smirked three times that day...). "You sure you can make it back to your house all by yourself?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine. Honest."

With that, Roxas started walking in the opposite direction. He'd gotten a text from that Namine girl, and I supposed he was anxious to see her. I smiled; it was cute, how he cared so much.

Riku sort of waggled his eyebrows at Sora. "See you tomorrow, then. Bye, Kairi."

"Ah, bye." Oh! I'd forgotten to say goodbye to Roxas! "Bye, Roxas," I called out. I got a small wave as a response.

I gasped shortly as I felt a hand grasping my own. Sora tugged. "C'mon, then. Let's go."

We walked in relative silence. There was the occasional "The houses are pretty." "Yeah. They are, huh?" conversation, but nothing that actually meant anything was said.

A few minutes later, I found my mom with this other girl around my age. Mom's head swiveled around. "Oh, hi, honey! I see you met a little friend! How nice to meet you, I'm Kairi's mother." She enthusiastically shook Sora's hand.

He grinned. "I'm Sora. It's really nice to meet you, Mrs...erm..."

She laughed. "Mrs. Suzuki. But you can call me..." I couldn't hear anything else because the girl had tackled me.

"Oh, my gosh, so you're that new girl I saw walking down the street! I couldn't come out and greet you 'cause my mom got all grumpy-pants on me and we had to do all this party planning for her anniversary, which I don't really care for either way, but I was so excited about having a new neighbor and I was thinking of topics to talk about and things to do the whole time! We could be friends and I'll do your nails and your hair - it's very pretty, by the way, is that auburn natural? - and you could do mine, and we'd tell each other our deepest, darkest secrets and maybe we'll go on a double date with our crushes together, and I'm just so glad you're here!"

I wasn't sure whether to focus on the fact that she just tackled me without even knowing me, had already planned our friendship without speaking a word to me before, or the fact that she had just said all of that in one breath. "Umm...I'm Kairi."

I got a squeal. "Kairi! Oh, that's such a cuuuute naaaame! I wish I had a cute name like yours. Mine's just _bleh_, you know? Selphie. _**Bleh.**_ I wish I had, like, a _fabulous _name, like Crystal. Isn't Crystal, like, one of the coolest names ever? I think so. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?"

Error. Error. Problem comprehending excess words. "Err...uh...oh! Um, I wouldn't change my name. I like it the way it is." She had gotten off of me, and I was able to see her better. She had pretty brown hair cut in sort of a Jimmy Neutron's mom way, and her green eye's sparkled with delight. Her face were nice and round, with a cute nose and small pink lips. She wore a yellow summer dress with fashionable brown shoes. A pretty girl, if not over-active. To the extreme, I mean.

She laughed, chimes ringing in my ears. "You don't seem like a person to want things changed, anyway. You and me are gonna be great friends, I can tell." She nodded, agreeing with herself. "Yep, I can tell."

Selphie turned to my mother. "It was nice meeting you guys, Mrs. Suzuki! Maybe someday soon we'll invite you over for dinner or something."

Mom looked astounded. "Oh, we - we couldn't! I wouldn't want to inconvenience you all, and..."

Sora glanced at me. "You'll be at the beach tomorrow, right?"

Hmm? Was I going to be at the beach? Was that an invitation? "Uh, yeah. Of course."

He grinned, his white teeth gleaming in the streetlights. "Great!" His eyes suddenly widened. "I bet you'll be able to meet Namine! I'll ask Roxas to bring her when I get home. In fact, it's pretty late right now - must've lost track of time - I should get going. I'll see you later, Kairi!" With that, he took off running out of the neighborhood.

"Uh, bye!" He was too far to hear me, anyway, but it felt rude not to.

Mom had overheard Sora. "Oh, dear, it _is_ rather late. Selphie, you should probably get home, your parents are probably waiting for you. Kairi, let's go home and eat. I have chicken in the new oven. Oh, speaking of that, have you seen it? It's _beautiful. _Much better than our old one, that's for sure. See, it has..." I was sort of lost in my own head, so I didn't exactly hear what our new, grand oven had. It wasn't that I was thinking; I was more in a daze. So much had happened that day, and my brain needed to take a rest.

I gazed around stupidly as I ate my dinner. The house looked more like a home once all of the boxes were removed (probably stored in the basement) and the stuff taken out. Things were more at peace, less white.

I collapsed into bed a little later. I was ready for this day to end, and a new one to follow.

--

-dies- Sorry this chapter took so long! A certain reviewer asked for longer chapters, so I tried to make this one longer than my last ones. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to end this one, so give a round of applause for one of the crappiest endings ever!

I've got a few things thought out for the future - mostly dialouge - and this story might turn out very interesting...

Or it could turn into a dud, depending on whether my plot bunnies stay alive long enough for me to continue writing.

-dies again- Damn author notes are too long, too! But please review! Reviews are like Phoenix Downs for me!


	4. Chapter 4

So, after watching an X-Files thing, get freaked out, not sleep for a good five hours, waking up insanely early, freaking out the next night, getting a nightmare in which I've still got no idea what the hell was going on (I think it was about...Frankenstein's bride...? Yeah, okay), wake up and spend only God knows how long shuddering involuntarily like some seizure patient, only to have my parents want me to watch another X-Files, I decided that it would be best to update on my fanfic.

Dedications: To Passionx3 and all my fans (which, added up from here and my thoughts account, amounts to 8! Yaaay!!).

Disclaimer: I asked for the rights for Christmas, but I ended up getting a stuffy sweater instead. Maybe I should ask for Tetsuya Nomura...

--

I hated my room. I knew I hated it the moment I woke up and fell out of bed searching for my alarm clock. And then nearly gave myself a concussion trying to walk out of my room. The hell? The door's supposed to be there; when'd the wall suddenly appear?

Oh yeah. When we _moved_.

I groggily stumbled down the stairs, trying not to bump into anything along the way and further injure myself. "Isn't it a wonderful day, Kairi? It's just so beautiful!" Ah, yes. Mom was the morning person in the family. Daddy grumbled incoherently as fixed his crack, which was in the form of coffee. Then he sort of glanced at me and mumbled again.

"Huh?"

"What d'you have planned today?" He took a swig of his black coffee. I was surprised it didn't melt the mug, let alone his mouth.

"Uh..." _I don't _think_ I have plans... Oh, wait, wait..._ "I was going to go see some people. Um, like, possible friends?" Hopefully that was intelligent enough to be understandable.

"Oh. They don't have tattoos or wear spikes or anything?"

"No."

"They seem reliable and good?"

"Uh...yeah..." I decided not to remind Daddy that I'd only known them for a day. Wait, no. Two hours at the most. Was that enough time to consider a person's morality? Hmm...

"Where are you all meeting?"

"The beach. Oh, we have a beach! It's like, fifteen minutes away on foot, so it's not like I'm miles away or anything."

"We do? Huh. I did wonder about those tropical plants... Anyway, when d'you think you'll be back?"

"Um. I dunno, actually." I had been expecting to spend the majority of the day with them, but then again, something could happen. Anything could happen. Who knew what normally happened at these islands?

Daddy looked at me. "Just get back at a reasonable time. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. Now, off you go! Go on, go on!" He playfully shooed me away while shoving a piece of toast in my mouth.

Leave it to Daddy to worry then chase me away like some disease. Ah, well. I crammed the toast in my mouth, eating it as fast as I could.

Have you ever accidently found some place, then the next time you try to find it, you get totally lost? My fifteen minute walk turned into a half-hour ordeal of backtracking, walking in circles, and asking the occasional pedestrian where to go. I made a mental note to thank the boy that pointed to the general location of the beach (what was his name? Walkie?).

I quickly spotted Sora and Riku. They were sort of hard to miss, with their hair and all. Sora was still wearing his red jumpsuit thing. I wondered whether he had washed it or if he had multiple jumpsuits. Guess he really likes them.

Riku noticed me first. He gave a look of recognition, then smirked (again) and jerked his head towards the group. I half-ran to get there quicker. I loved my purple skirt, but unless I wanted to flash my panties at anyone, running was _not_ the best plan.

When they were a few more feet away, I finally noticed Roxas. It amazed me how he just blended in to the beach. Even his skin was the same pale gold of the sand. He smiled when he saw me; his teeth gleamed a little in the sunlight. "Hey. This is Namine. Namine, this is Kairi. She's new here."

I had had a picture of Namine in my head. The Namine in my head was the ideal Namine that I was sure Roxas swooned over. She was tall, but not too tall to make Roxas self-conscious (he and Sora were, undeniably, short. There was no way out of that.). She had a really nice tan that made her glow in the sunlight. Natural, of course. She had big, brown, like chocolate, hair. It came down in that wavy, supermodel type way, and it was lighter and darker in all the right spots. And she had brown eyes, but they were a different kind of brown, not just boring. I don't know how it was different, but it just was. Ideal Namine was bouncy and cheerful, really outspoken, sort of.

Ideal Namine and Real Namine were two very different people, I came to find.

Real Namine was short. Very short. Tiny was probably a better word for it. She did _not_ have any indication of a tan; in fact, her skin was pretty white, almost see-through-ish. I was pretty sure _this_ was completely natural. Her hair was as pale as her skin, and pretty much as thin, too. It sat limp, and she had combed it to one side to give the impression that she had more than she really did. And her eyes were just as blue as Roxas's or Sora's (did everyone here have blue eyes?). If she had a cheerful, bouncy personality, she gave no sign of it. Instead, she glanced at my face for half a second, then stared somewhere below that with a shy smile on her face.

Well. This wasn't what I was expecting.

After a few seconds, she stumbled over a "Hi". Was I that scary? I did try to comb my hair out before I ventured downstairs, right?

"Hey. I'm Kairi, but you already know that. It's nice to meet you." I held out my hand. She stared at it and turned a delicate shade of pink. Geez Louise... When she didn't take it, I started to let my hand fall to my side, but then she just went and snatched it at the last second, like it was some lifeboat. Eh?

"It's really nice to meet you, too!" She said this loudly, like she was forcing the words out of her throat. Maybe she didn't like me? Was she jealous because of Roxas? I hoped not; Roxas was entirely hers.

Then again, maybe this was completely normal, because Roxas smiled triumphantly. "Great. Now we all know each other." He turned to Sora and Riku. "Have anything planned for today?"

Namine looked to Roxas, Roxas looked to Riku, and Riku looked to Sora. Sora looked around frantically before his eyes latched onto me. Oh dear. That gleam in his eyes _cannot_ be good... "Kairi, what do _you_ wanna do?"

Me? The person who had been on the island for a grand total of one and a half days? You had got to be kidding me... "Uhh..." Now Riku and Roxas were looking at me. Great. Just great. I then assumed that Sora was often given the task of making plans, and that he often fell short. So me there was like a solution to his problem. Why did he have to be so annoying? "I dunno. What _is_ there to do?"

Riku pursed his lips. "Well..." He scanned the horizon. I quickly did the same; who knew, there could have been something very interesting there! "We could go over to the Island." The way he said it made it seem like _the_ Island, with a capital "I".

I followed his gaze. Then furrowed my brow. "How are we going to get there? It's really far away, and I don't have a bathing suit or anything."

He laughed. Well, not just him. Everyone laughed, even Namine. Hunh. What was so funny?

Roxas explained. "We'll just take the raft, of course. 'Don't have a bathing suit'..." He gave way to another round of guffaws. Oh, geez, it wasn't that funny! My face warmed up about a degree or two.

Sora glanced over at me. "You don't have a bathing suit?"

"Nah."

"Why? I mean, we're, like, _surrounded _by water. I think it's almost a requirement to have a bathing suit."

A requirement? "Well, Radient Garden - the place I moved from - is completely closed in. There isn't any bodies of water we can swim in, so...no bathing suits."

His eyes widened a little. "No water? Really?"

I nodded. "Unless you count that really shallow fountain thing that you could run through, but the water only went to your ankles."

Sora's mouth gaped slightly. "Huh."

The rest of us walked silently as he mulled this information over.

When we had finally gotten to the dock area, my forehead had a nice sheen to it, and my hair stuck to the sides of my head. My feet stung a little as they took the impact of the ground, and made me grimace as I felt the little grains of sand rub against my sore feet. Maybe I had half of the Sahara in there. It sure felt like it.

Sora broke into a wide grin and ran to the dock. He held his arms to a fourty-five degree, like he was presenting some grand thing to us. Well, me, really.

As I approached it, the raft was not up there in my list of "grand things". In fact, it might have reached my "crappy things" list.

Not saying that there wasn't any craftsmanship. There was plenty of craftsmanship; it was more that the craftsman had taken a liking to his knife and had decided to chop madly at the poor raft. It was uneven - one side looked like a mountain had formed on the raft; in another, a valley. I think the worst part was the mast: It sort of started to lean in the middle, and on the top was a "flag" waving in the air. The flag was a ragged shirt that had probably been up there for most of its existence, from the looks of it.

"This is the raft! Do ya like it?" Sora looked so proud. He probably made it himself, poor thing.

"It's...well, it looks safe, doesn't it? Pretty sturdy." Except for the whole leaning mast thing.

Riku walked up beside me. "Don't worry, despite its looks, it's okay. We've used it for a few years, and it hasn't broken down." He looked at me for a moment, then let out a small chuckle. "Believe me, it's always looked like this. The damage isn't wear-and-tear."

Sora looked at the raft, confused. "Damage? What are you talking about, Ri? It looks fine."

Roxas snorted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Namine cover a smile with her hand.

Riku shook his head, his hair glinting in the bright sun. "Are we going or what?"

After a bit of bickering, we all situated ourselves on the raft. Apparently, it had been a little cramped when Namine entered the picture. Well, five people on a raft are a lot more than four people. I was amazed that Sora, Riku, and Roxas had room to row. We all fidgeted; sitting on a bumpy piece of wood wasn't as comfortable as it may seem.

The sun had dropped considerably from its high spot by the time we had landed ashore. Sora dashed off of the raft; Riku calmly stood, brushed himself off, and walked over to Sora; Roxas held his hand out for Namine; Namine grasped his hand and let him help her up; I clumsily stood, nearly fell, then stumbled off of the raft. The smooth, even feeling of the sand under my shoes was so different from the unyeilding, bumpy wood.

I slowly took in the beauty of the Island. It was two islands, really. The main one had crudely made buildings; the wood had been plastered on, rather than carefully arranged. There was one shack that lead to Island number two. Island number two was a lot smaller than the main Island: It only had room for three palm trees and another fruit-bearing tree that hung over the island's edge.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" Namine's voice chimed, slightly wavering. She was smiling. She had a pretty smile.

Riku looked around. "Okay. So now what?"

Sora pointed to Island number two. "I challenge you to a sword fight!"

Riku laughed. "Oh, c'mon. Are you serious?"

"Of course I am! You. Me. Now."

Roxas shook his head, quivering in laughter. "I'll be referee or something." He turned to Namine. "You'll be fine, right?" She nodded. "Great. You and Kairi can get to know each other." With that, the three boys raced off to the second Island.

Namine and I walked slowly along the shore of the beach, barefoot. The sand on _this_ island was whiter, like half of it had been bleached. It felt softer, less grainy and more powdery. The waves washed over our feet, foaming as the came to shore. The breeze came occasionally, and I could almost taste the salt in it. We made our walk silently. What was there to talk about, anyway?

It lasted like that until I noticed a shell that had recently washed to shore. I bent to grab it; the powder sand practically fell off of the shell as I picked it up. It sort of looked like an onion. A 2-D onion. It was a pretty cream color at the bulb part, but starting at the middle and stretching to the end, it turned a pale-ish pink. There were small ridges going vertical on it. As I examined it, Namine finally spoke.

"It's a thalassa shell." I looked at her, then at the shell. I had never heard of that type of shell. Then again, I didn't live near any form of water until now. Knowing shell's names weren't exactly important in my neighborhood. "There's a legend about it."

"Really?" This shell had a legend?

She nodded, hesitant. Like she was nervous about seeming pompous, knowing something I didn't. "Yeah. If someone - like a sailor - goes out to sea, having one of those are supposed to bring good luck."

"Oh."

"Mm-hm."

The shell was really beautiful. "Are they pretty common, or..."

"They're a little rare, but if you look hard enough, you can usually find a few."

"Do you wanna do that?"

Namine looked at me, surprised. "Huh?"

I turned a little red. Maybe she didn't want to? "I mean, while the boys do..." We both looked to the second Island. Roxas sat on the enormous not-palm tree, while Sora and Riku sort of danced around each other, occasionally striking. "...whatever they do, and we could find these shells. Or we could do something else, if you want."

She smiled, her eyes bright with anticipation. "No, this is fine. Let's see how many we can get."

So that's what we did. We didn't talk much as we scoured the Island. We didn't need to, anyway. It turned out that thalassa shells were _very_ common. It was the completely whole ones that were buggers to find. There was a broken one that I had saved: It sort of looked like a party hat. We had found ten whole ones within a good four hour time frame. We split it halfway, five and five. Namine had chosen the ones with more cream, whereas I had taken the pinker ones. Sometime after that, the boys had finished their game. Riku had won: ten to seven. We made our way back to the main island, laughing and grumping and occasionally falling overboard.

My heart was completely filled with joy. Never. Never had anything been like this in Radient Garden. Everyone was either too old or too young to hang out with me. No one would've searched for shells. No one would've convinced me to get on the raft of doom. No one would've laughed so hard at one of my jokes.

I was happy. I really was.

--

"Walkie" is Wakka. I really hope everyone understood, 'cause if not, whoopsies.

And Kairi wears _waaaaaayyy_ too skimpy clothing. Do they not notice that her skirts are, like, four inches long? Jesus Christ. I also say the same for Namine. Why don't they give 'em pants or something? Even Yuffie, who wears shorts, is ridiculously skimped up!

Ahem. Sorry for the rant.

Oh, and I'm taking French this year! Now I finally know why Namine is pronounced like it is xD! Stupid accents!

And the raft? Yesh, I know. In the KH game, it looks good, but come on. Sora had a part in building it. It can't be good. It just can't.

Yes, the Island is _the_ Island. The only one that Squeenix allowed us to explore. Since there's a main island, and then _the_ Island, I decided to make that pretty well known. Besides, how cool would it be to have an island all to yourself (besides your friends, of course)?

I'm going to try to write 500 words a day. It's not always going to be for this story, but I'm hoping that maybe it'll help me get things out faster.

So...review? Please? Even though I don't deserve it because I made so many of you wait xO.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I am soooo sorry for not getting this out sooner! I've been on the longest hiatus for this, and I'm just now getting back into it. Updates shouldn't be so far and few between now: I'm actually writing bits and pieces of the future part of the story, and I think it looks pretty darn decent, but that's for the readers to decide, I suppose.

Dedication: Passionx3, of whom I hope is reading, but if not, oh well.

Disclaimer: Yes, a high school fangirl definitely has the rights to Kingdom Hearts, the song "White Houses", and her sanity. She stole them from a securely locked safe last night. *rolls eyes*

* * *

My life was sort of like that for two weeks. You know, meeting up at the beach, going at it for what seemed like forever, going home to the biggest dinner in history (because we all forgot about lunch during our get-togethers, and our parents knew it), collapsing into bed, and starting all over again.

Then started the second part of the timeline, I guess. School was starting in half a month, and I had yet to get the materials. Apparently, my mom had gotten my school uniform (we have to wear a uniform, ugh) online. It had come to our house during the second week of shenanigans.

I had seen the brown box with tape on every crevasse before my mom. My thoughts had been along the lines of _maybe if I sneak in the house and make absolutely no comment about it, she'll see it at midnight or something, and I'll be in bed by that time, meaning I don't have to check out whatever she's ordered now._Unfortunately, Mom opened the door, her eyes widening slightly at the fact that something was blocking the door. Then the happiness in them came when she saw the dreaded brown box. Maybe I could sneak in past her and busy myself with Daddy for a bit...

Alas, no. "Oh, your new uniform must have come!" Uniform? What unif...

Oh. I remembered tagging along with Mom to see the new school. It looked prestigious and big. Very big. I must have been worrying about getting lost in the school while my mom and my new principal talked of school uniforms.

But at least it wasn't any Tupperware-type things. Curiousity creeping in, I made my way closer to the box as she ran in to get the scissors. It wasn't like the other boxes once I got close enough. It had my new school's crest on it, and it the box was a slightly different shade of brown (oddly enough). Mom ran the edge of the scissors along the gaps between the flaps, effectively slicing the tape with a _sshhwwp!_The uniform inside the box was wrapped in tissue paper to protect it or something. Mom gingerly lifted the white package and neatly tore the paper where a strip of tape was. The paper crunched and wrinkled as Mom moved it out of the way. She lifted the uniform.

I pressed my lips together. It was...nice. I guess. I mean, it was sort of plain: White blouse, blue plaid skirt, blue plaid tie. I couldn't find anything wrong with it, but it wasn't anything to jump for joy for, like my mom was doing at the moment.

"Ahh, look at it, sweetie! This is fantastic! Oh, I can't wait to see you in this." She bounded towards me. I instinctively backed up.

"Yeah... It looks nice." I couldn't think of anything else to add.

Last I saw her that day, she was skipping around, hugging my blouse. I wondered if she wanted it. Then I forgot all about it as I tried to negotiate a later bedtime with Daddy.

The gang and I sort of slowed down our activities sometime after that. It was less going to the Island to do something and more going to the Island to mope around. Sora would lie on the paopu tree (that was the leaning tree), Riku would sit on the sand nearby, and Roxas, Namine and I would sit on the tree, gazing at the sky.

"I wish it was always like this," Roxas had said at one point.

"Hmm?" I blinked at him.

"You know." He gestured at the Island. "That this would be life. Nothing more than this. No school. No separation from us. No parting ways. I wish time could just freeze, so we could be like this forever."

Riku looked up. "Not me."

"That's only because you're waiting to get your driver's license."

"Yeah, well. Someone needs to know how to drive. But also, I think things should move forward, and if we go separate ways...then maybe it was supposed to happen like that. But don't worry." He flashed a wide smirk. "That's not going to happen. I'll bet all the money that Sora owes me."

"Hey!"

And thus all the seriousness ended.

When I wasn't with them, I was hanging out with Selphie. She was as bad of a romantic as you could get, I soon learned.

"Hey Kairi," she said, fiddling with her new pearl necklace, "see anyone you like? Like, like-like, as in, love-like?"

"Nah, not really," I replied. It was true, somewhat. No one had truly caught both my interest and my heart. One had caught the former, however, and Selphie, being Selphie, couldn't help but notice.

"You like Riku, don't you?"

"Huh? What're you... No. No, of course not. I don't know what you're talking about." Frankly, I didn't know what _I_ was talking about. My mind had turned blank at the name "Riku," and my mouth must have switched to auto-pilot.

She giggled in that somewhat annoying but somewhat adorable laugh she had. "Oh, of _course_ not. What was I thinking?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah." That was probably the most unconvincing phrase of my life. And Selphie knew it, much to my misfortune. After about two minutes of silence, she started up again.

"So when did you start liking him? Huh?"

"Geez, Selphie. Some girls actually don't really prefer to go into long talks about crushes and whatever."

"Ye-ah, they do! They're just in denial, and you and I both know it! It's a girl's nature to gossip," she said knowingly. "And besides, it's not obvious. That you like him, I mean. What _is_ obvious is _why_ you like him. I mean, total hottie alert! Who wouldn't love those sexy, long, silver locks? Heck, I'd go for him too if I wasn't interested in Tidus! But you won't tell anyone, will you?" She looked at me skeptically, as if I would actually tell this Tidus person that I didn't even know existed, let alone cared enough to let it slip that she liked him.

"No, of course not! Why would I? You're my friend after all. As long as you don't tell anyone that I like Riku, right?"

She laughed. "Aha, got you to admit it! I didn't know for sure, but now the cat's out of the bag. And of course _I_ won't tell. Girls who respect girly rules just don't do that. However..." she said with a glint in her eye. I never thought I'd use the word gulp, all by itself, but with that look... Gulp. "However, there's no girlfriend law about trying to _set you two up..._ But nevermind. I didn't say anything."

"What?" With the look she still had on her face, I could tell that this wasn't going to end here.

"Nothing, nothing. So, Kairi, do you have your school schedule yet? Who do you have for English?" And as we chattered about our academics, the scheme almost faded from my mind, but a little part of it was still worrying about it. I told that part to shut it; after all, what exactly could Selphie do about it? Probably write phony love letters and stick it in his locker or something. Nothing too serious. I thought.

Then again, this _was_ Selphie we were talking about.

* * *

I've had past experiences with QVC boxes. My mom likes to collect Lock-&-Lock.

...That _is_ how you spell scissors, right? The damn name's always given me a hard time.

As for writing phony love letters, I believe one of my dear friends can attest to that. Gifta giveth Syd the hardest timeth.


End file.
